UNC Basketball: Scouting report of Tar Heel guard Anthony Harris

Guard Skills

Albeit listed as a combo guard on most recruiting sites, Anthony Harris is clearly more of an off-guard than a clear-cut point guard, seen in both his usage/role in an offensive system and in how he handles things with the ball in his hands.

For both Paul Catholic VI and Team Takeover (EYBL), Harris showed signs of a loose, high dribble, which at times tripped him up when pushing in transition or maneuvering around tight spaces. At times, he would lose the ball altogether; and, in other situations, he would sloppily pick the ball up, in a panic, and force up a pull-up jumper that typically rimmed out.

Similar to former UNC guard Coby White, it’s more than reasonable to make an educated guess that Harris’s hands are smaller than average. White himself had trouble maintaining a live dribble, and Harris displays some of the similar restrictions that would limit the effectiveness of White’s speed — a dribble bouncing up near the chin, a dribble being too far out in front of the body, or a bobbled transition into a live dribble. (Tangentially, another sign that Harris may have small hands can be seen in his inability to routinely hit floaters/runners. His attempts are a bit stiff and awkward as if he doesn’t have total control of the ball as he’s going up.)

That theory may be completely bogus, but at the very least, Harris’s handle does need polishing so that he can adequately leverage his speed without turning the ball over or putting himself (and his team) in compromising positions.

Another stain on his potential as a playmaker is his overall feel and basketball IQ. This will be sussed out in (much!) greater detail when discussing his tendencies as a driver, but he’s far too prone to put his head down and putting on blinders, resulting in missed or delayed reads. Likewise, his sense of space and his decision-making can be poor at times, with Harris tumbling into defenders or forcing ill-timed passes.

Harris makes plenty of boneheaded plays with the ball and lacks some of the physical and mental traits one needs to be a passable playmaker, but this doesn’t mean he’s bad at creating scoring chances with his handle or passing. Viewers would love for better consistency, but he’s flashed promising passing in transition and good burst with his handle on numerous occasions.

His burst pops when attacking off-movement, whether he’s changing directions off of a hand-off, hitting the accelerator when attacking a closeout, or quickly shifting gears when bringing the ball up-court. His acceleration is legit, and although the handle’s a bit loose, he’s flashed in-and-out dribbles, one-two crossovers, and hesitation hang-dribbles that create advantageous angles to turn the corner past defenders.

I’ve written lowly of his floor vision so far (which, again, you’ll understand why when we talk about his driving), but I’d be lying to everyone if I wrote that he’s a bad passer. He’s not! He averaged 2.5 assists per game with an impressive 2.39 assist-to-turnover ration in EYBL action as a two-guard. His usage wasn’t high, which helps, but it’s still difficult for a “bad passer” to sport such a positive A:TO. The main gripe is his consistency as a decision-maker and his capability of slowing his mind down enough to make the right play.

When he’s in control, he’s capable of finding gaps in scrambling defenses, whether he’s leading defenders away from open shooters (i.e., by filling in a lane and cutting off helpers) or leveraging his speed by drawing attention so as to deliver passes to cutters.

Given UNC’s infatuation with running and gunning, it’s imperative that they have guards capable of pushing the Carolina Break. Harris can excel at UNC if he manages to improve his decision-making in transition. He’s shown flashes, but consistency is key.